Abstract
The history of the critical reception and creative assimilation of Ion Creanga’s work together with that of Mihai Eminescu, forms a sinuous path to the self- awareness of Romanian literature. The exegetes, most often, expressed their enthusiasm and admiration about the life and work of the Humulesti storyteller, insisting on different aspects of Creanga phenomenon.It is known that an image, well consolidated, of the man behind the work, was due to the reputation within the circle of the Junimists. His contemporaries valued his joviality, the gift of storytelling and his archetypal nature. Creanga was regarded as a “people’s writer”, a fact disputed by George Calinescu, but exactly this rough “people’s character”, gave great trouble later to the commentators.The novelty of the Crengian figure is “perceived as an epic primitiveness,which gets expression due to an old manstill attached to the archaic habitat.